Trestle bracket



Juiy 10, 1951 J ANDERSON 2,559,696

' TRESTLE BRACKET Filed July 11, 1947 Patented July 10, 1951 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE TRESTLE BRACKET John E. Anderson, Minneapolis,Minn.

Application July 11, 1947, Serial No. 760,333 v This invention relatesto a device for constructing a scalfold or scafiolding support for ahorse. Such a support or horse commonly comprises a top supportingmember usually rectangular in transverse cross section and a pair of legmembers adjacent each end of said top members, said legs usuallydiverging and also usually being made of members rectangular in crosssection.

It is an object of this invention to provide a very simple and efiicientdevice for receiving the said top member and leg members together withmeans for holding said top and leg members in position.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a devicecomprising a member having a. channel extending longitudinally therein,said channel facing upwardly and having means such as a plate extendingacross the top thereof, means such as wedges engaging said channel andtop member for forcing the latter against said means for holding saidtop member in position, casings extending downwardly in divergingrelation respectively at the sides of said member, said casings beingadapted to receive the upper ends of the legs of said support or horse,together with means for holding said legs in position.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a devicecomprising a member having a central channel extending longitudinallythereof, a plate extending across the top of said channel and beingdisposed in'a plane at an angle to the bottom of said channel, saidchannel being adapted to receive the top member of said support orhorse, a wedge movable along the bottom of said channel and engagingsaid top membeer to force the same against said plate, casings extendingdownwardly in diverging relation respectively at the sides of saidmember, said casings being substantially rectangular in transverse crosssection, having open bottoms and being adapted to receive the upper endsof the legs of said support or horse and wedges engaging the said legsand one side of said casings respectively for holding said legs inposition.

It is still further an object of the invention to provide such a deviceas set forth in the preceding paragraph in which said wedges have slotsin the sides engaging said member and said member has legs or tonguesdisposed in said slots respectively for guiding and holding said wedges.

It is also an object of the invention to provide such a device as aboveset forth in which one or mor of the wedges used are of rectangularshape 2 Claims. (Cl. 304-5) 2 in transverse cross section save for anopening at one side thereof.

These and other objects and advantages'of the invention will be fullyset forth in the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer tosimilar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a View in side elevation of a horse or scafiolding supportassembled in the device of this invention;

'Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation of said device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of one end of said scaffold or support andsaid device;

- Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of the device of this inventionremoved from the scaffold or support;

Fig. 5 is a view partly in and elevation of the device, some parts beingbroken away and others shown in vertical section; and

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken substantially on line 6-6 of Fig.4.

Referring to the drawings a device is shown comprising a member I 0.Member it! will be made of suitable metal, such as steel or aluminum,and may be made either as a casting or of welded parts. Said membercomprises a channel Illa the sides of which are vertically or upwardlydirected and in the embodiment of the invention illustrated said channelis for the most part open at its upper end. Said channel has one or moreportions or plates extending across its top and as illustrated there aretwo of said portions, lilb and llic respectively. The sides of thechannel Illa are'higher at one end and portions 10b and I00 are disposedin a plane making an acute angle with the bottom of said channel. Thebottom of said channel has a raised or thickened portion 10d extendingfrom one end of member I!) and a lug lile of general T-shape extendsupwardly from one end of portion ltd. A wedge II is disposed overportion lfld and while this wedge might be variously formed, in theembodiment of the invention illustrated it is shown as rectangularin'transverse cross section save for an opening or slot Ila at one sidethereof through which the narrow portion of lug Hie extends. The side ofwedge l I, which is at right angles to its end, engages portion Hid sothat the upper side of said wedge is inclined to the bottom of channelIlla or to the top of portion Hid. Wedge I l is preferably provided withone or more pointed projections Ilb on its upper or inclined side. .SaidWedge also has a lip Ilc projecting from its lower side and said wedgehas a hole I Id extending through its upper side. The channel Na, asshown in Figs. 1 and 2, is adapted to receive the top member T of thescafford support or the horse. Member EU has casings l secured to thesides respectively of channel "la and extending downwardly in divergingrelation. Casings iiif are substantially rectangular in transverse crosssection. One of the narrow sides [0g of each casing I01 extendssubstantially at right angles to the bottom of channel [8a while theother narrow side lflh extends at a slight angle to the side my anddiverges from side lflg downwardly. Casings illf are open at theirhottoms but have plates or flanges lfli extending partway across thetops thereof. The narrow sides [by and H371. are preferably providedwith lugs or thickened portions [0 9, and lugs IOIc of general T-shapedform in cross section project upwardly from the sides lOh at the lowerends thereof. A wedge i2 is adapted to slide along side [Oh and the sideof wedge 12 which is at right angles to its end is disposed opposite tothe side which slides along the side ifih. Wedge i2 is also rectangularin transverse cross section, as shown in Fig. 6, and lug [07s projectsinto the slot at the side l2a of wedge i2. Wedge i2 has a projecting lugor lip [22) at its large end and is provided with one or more somewhatpointed projections (20 at the side opposite side lZa. Wedge i2 is alsoprovided with a hole iZd-ad jacent its large end which hole extendsthrough the side opposite side i2a. The slots or openings Ila and thesimilar opening I20 in wedges l2 terminate short of the ends of thewedges so that the wedges are held in place by the lugs we and [Werespectively. The openings Ha and I26 can expanded to permit entry oflugs We and liik and then again closed. The slots Na and 12c also act asguides for the wedges as they move relatively to lugs ifie and idle.

In operation the member T which as stated forms the top member of thescafiord support and the longitudinal member is disposed in the channelIlia, the same extending under portions 531) and H10. When the membersare in proper position, wedges H will be driven inwardly and the topsides thereof .will force member T against portions Nib and We so thatthe member T will be very tightly clamped in place. The portions Hb biteinto the member T, which latter member is usually a wood timber such as2 x 4. If desired, a nail can be driven. through hole Hid to insure thatwedge i I will not move outwardly. This is really not necessary however.When wedge H is driven into place, member I0 is turned or canted inposition on member T, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the casings 10f extenddownwardly and toward the ends of member T. The leg members L are nowplaced in casings 10 through the open lower ends thereof. These legmembers may be inserted until they strike the flanges Hit. The wedges l2will now be driven upwardly or inwardly into the casings l0 and willwedge members L tightly against the side mg. The projections I2c willbite into the leg members L and the latter will be very seourely held inplace. If desired, a nail can be driven through hole 201 to make surethat the wedges l2 will not move outwardly of casings N31. The members Tand L are now very securely held and members L, as do casings I01,extend downwardly and toward the end of member T. Two of the members H)are commonly used, as shown in Fig. l, and the leg members L thusdiverge downwardly. These leg members L also diverge downwardly whenseen from the end of the support, as shown in Fig, 2.

From the above description it will be seen that I have provided a verysimple yet highly elficient device for holding the top member and legmembers of a scaffold support or horse. The member i0 is reinforced atthe point where the wedges engage the same by the portions Md and ii.This insures that there will be no iracturing of member Hi by action ofthe wedges. The wedges can be easily released by striking the lips orlugs He or 12b with a suitable implement, such as a hammer. Members Tand L can be very easily and quickly placed and clamped in position.They can also be easily and quickly released. The device has been amplydemonstrated in actual practice, found to be very successful andefiicient and is being commercially made.

It will of course be understood that various changes may be made in theform, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts, withoutdeparting from the scope of applicants invention, which generallystated, consists in a de vice capable of carrying out the obiects aboveset forth, in th parts and combinations of parts disclosed and definedin the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for constructing a scafiold support having in combination, amember comprising a channel adapted to receive the top member of saidscafiold support, said channel being open at its top except for spacednarrow portions extending over the top of said channel at the endsthereof, a wedge engaging the bottom of said channel and having one sideengaging the bottom of said top member for forcing said top memberagainst said portions to hold the same in place, said wedge having aslot in the other side extending longitudinally thereof and said bottomhaving a lug of T-shape in cross section projecting into said slot forretaining and guiding said wedge, casings of rectangular cross sectioncomprising long and short sides at the respective sides of said channel,said casings having sides at the long sides of said rectangle divergingfrom said channel, one side at the short side of said rectangle beingperpendicular to the bottom of said channel and the other side at theshort side of said rectangle being at an acute angle to the bottom ofsaid channel, leg members in said casings, wedges disposed in saidcasings having one side engaging said latter sides at the short sides ofsaid rectangles respectively and having their other sides engaging theleg members for forcing said members against the former of said sides atthe short sides of said rectangles respectively.

2. A device for constructing a scaffold support having in combination, amember comprising a. channel adapted to receive the top inember of saidscaiiold support, said channel being open at its top except for spacednarrow portions extending over the top of said channel at the endsthereof, a wedge engaging the bottom of said channel and having one sideengaging the bottom of said top member for forcing said top memberagainst said portions to hold the same in place, casings of rectangularcross section comprising long and short sides at the respective sides ofsaid channel, said casings having sides at the long sides of saidrectangle di verging from said channel, one side at the short side ofsaid rectangle being perpendicular to tively, one side of each wedgehaving a slot ex- Number Name Date tending longitudinally thereof andsaid latter 1,597,555 Tolmie Aug. 24, 1926 sides respectively havinglugs of T-shape in cross 2,501,656 Anderson Mar. 28, 1950 sectionrespectively projecting into said slots for 1 retaining and guiding saidwedges, and said 0 FOREIGN PATENTS wedges having straight sides engagingthe leg Number Country Date members for forcing said members against the1, Great Britain V- 3 'former of said sides at the short sides of said535,146 France eb- 1922 rectangles respectively. 15

a 5 6 the bottom of said channel and the other side at the short side ofsaid rectangle being at an F ENCES CITED acute angle to the bottom ofSaid Channel leg The following references are of record in the membersin said casings, wedges disposed in me of this patent;

said casings having one side engaging said latter 5 sides at the shortsides of said rectangles respec- UNITED STATESPA'I'ENTS JOHN ANDERSON.

